When Jack Fell in Love for the First Time
by Unfaithful Fellow
Summary: Ever wonder if there was a girl in Jack's life before he met Rose in the beautiful ship? Jack's love affair before the Tintanic...
1. Default Chapter

Jack's Life Before Titanic

Ever wonder what Jack's love life was before he boarded the majestic Titanic? This is a story of his first love affair based on the diary—yes, Jack has a diary (in my own version)--of his first relationship way back when he was in High School. He wrote in a narrative form together with some sketches of Helen, his first love.

I have been sketching the beautiful mountain visible from my cheap hotel room when I saw a sketch that I did when I was still in High School. This girl was so beautiful and was my first girlfriend. I am doing this story so my grandsons and granddaughters and even my wife will know how my first love went through.

Helen Robinson received too much attention in the whole Saint Mary's High School. Not because she was dazzlingly pretty, not because she was good in singing, and neither because she was one of the popular girls who walked very seductively along the corridors of the school did she received too much recognition. She was not even an object of my acclaimed sketches before! Actually, she was infamous because of her appearance that simply differed from the ladies of our batch and of the whole school in general. She was a total social outcast! With her scrawny body, long uncombed hair, big black eye bags, and thick glasses she put on, she didn't have to take a qualification exams for the nerds if there is such an exam. Add to those traits her ill-fitted clothes that made her look like a hanger. One more thing, she has a disgusting scar on her elbow! How could a sane guy of my age fall in live for her? Especially a guy like me who's good looking and has tremendous talents!

I tell you, you could easily identify her once you're in Saint Mary. Just try to go across the corridor of the juniors' classrooms during lunchtime and you will see a frail, pale, isolated girl at the back of the classroom abandoned by the students for the cafeteria. After having her lunch—she eats a lot—she sits in a very awkward position and reads thick books. To tell you, it has been her habit since she didn't have someone to talk with during breaks! Hell! No one would love to talk about balancing chemical equations and solving calculus problems during break time! Do you?

Everyday we, including some of our rude and irrational teachers, join the class bullies in teasing and embarrassing the near-to-speechless classmate of ours. Sometimes, I just cannot help but laugh! It's better to be a single person's enemy than being the object of ridicule of all but two persons of the batch.

There was one time my friends asked me to draw a body of a lanky man wearing trunks. After drawing, he grabbed my sketchpad and drew Helen's head above the lanky body. He even included Helen's long uncombed hair. Everyone laughed especially when they posted it on the board.

I felt guilty cause I was the one who drew it. I also felt guilty because the girl has always been a quiet one and does not express whatever she feels regarding the unending embarrassment she receives. Only a drop of tear was available for us to conclude whatever she hid deep in her heart and mind. Imagine, almost everyone was jeering her yet she still has the courage and strength to go to school. Sometimes, I tried to imagine when would I be that strong, that brave so I can rescue her from everyone who seemed to have nothing else to do except to mock her. I just told myself I cannot be that strong to rescue her because I was part of that "everyone" I need to confront. I also wanted to approach her and try to have a nice conversation with her but due to my fear of being taunted by my classmates, I didn't.

All these perceptions changed in just a short single night! I was in school preparing for my biggest and most important report in Chemistry. I have to finish an illustration of a chemical compound together with its description. My Chemistry teacher was an old maid with super keen eyes ready to discern any single flaw in my report. Having low grades in my tests, I need to have an excellent one here to salvage my grade even for a B and just to make myself a little proud. I didn't want to be kicked out of school.

As I was walking along the corridor of the school building, I heard some moaning and groaning along the path I was walking. Inside a room, I saw a silhouette of two persons having sex inside. The girl was seated on the windowsill with her skirt and underwear pulled down. The guy also had his pants and underwear down. I sensed that they were about to finish so I went a few steps back and tried to hide from them. It is very humiliating to know you're being watched while having sex, ain't it? Well, not if you are an exhibitionist.

From my new location, I still wasn't able to recognize the girl's face. I was interested to know who she was. After they finished and put back their clothes, I saw the guy pulled some money and gave it to the girl. When he left the room, I learned that he was the senior star player of the soccer team.

Left alone inside the room, the girl was arranging herself . Because she was picking up her scattered books, I noticed on her elbow a disgusting scar! I was shocked upon discovering that she was Helen, the nerdy girl! I didn't believe my eyes that very moment! How come she was so beautiful that night? I stared at her yet she was still so pretty. I had doubts but my guess was strongly established when she picked up something and put her glasses on! Oh my God! She was absolutely beautiful compared to how she looked everyday in class. I'm telling this not because I saw her naked!

I didn't know what to do but I felt my feet were heading me inside the room where Helen was.

"Helen, why are you still here? It's too late already!"

"Oh, what are you doing here! How long have you been here?" she screamed.

"I just came from the gymnasium. I'll prepare my report for tomorrow's Chemistry class. You?" I asked with ignorance.

"Uhmm, I forgot my books, yeah, my books! Why do you have to ask me? You don't care!"

"Ok!"

"But, honestly, what did you see?"

"See what? What should I see?"

"Don't appear so ignorant and innocent!"

"Okay, I've been here for ten minutes already. And if you're gonna ask me if I saw what you and that senior had, I'll tell you honestly that I accidentally saw what you did! I'm sorry! I didn't even know you were the girl! You're beautiful! Why do you have to appear different everyday?"

While I was explaining, Helen turned around and even before I finish, she faced towards me and slapped my face so hard!

"Why?"

"You don't care!"

"Relax, I didn't mean to watch you two!"

"Yeah, and why you're talking to me now? Why is it so sudden? Oh, I know, you conspired with that foolish guy! You saw my naked body!"

"No, I did not!"

"An accident huh?"

Angelina undressed in front of me and asked me to sit down on the chair. "This is what you want, right?" as she was dancing on my lap. "Am I right you lusty porno-freak guy!"

"I wasn't able to answer because I was nearly turned on by her sensual dance. Yet I was able to regain control and stopped her!

"Stop this! You don't want to do this and neither do I. You're just emotional right now. I respect you. You don't have to show me your sleazy! Actually, I sympathize with you every time our classmates mock you! I wanted to stop them and tell them they're wrong but..."

"But what? You just love to do what they're doing right? You enjoy it; you enjoy teasing me!"

"No, what can I do, I am just a single guy! Don't worry, I can be your friend!"

My last line prompted her to cry out all her emotions. My offer of friendship for her was like a ship of food supplies for a famine-ridden country. She placed her head on my shoulders. I listened to her words. I even buttoned her shirt back.

"I am different from what i may seem! Don't worry, no one will know this!

I wasn't sure of what I did next. I geared my head towards her face and locked her lips with mine. Whatever certain is that the sympathy i had for her was more than what I thought it was. I was in love with her.


	2. The Conversation of The Night

Chapter 2

The conversation of the Night

That was a magnificent night for me. It was so majestic and was so awesome! It might be the most memorable night that I had in my whole life. I can say this with confidence because I haven't had the future yet, and the future might be a better threshold of lasting memories. Nevertheless, a magnificent night will always be magnificent even when it's already over.

The night was very remarkable and unusual that it inadvertently stayed in my senses. I can still imagine her beautiful figure in the air including her oh so wondrous face! I can still clearly discern how her long straight hair fell down to her shoulders! I can still smell her odoriferous scent that seemed to stay on my clothes and my hands no matter how frequent I washed them. The scent was ethereal and I felt I was in heaven! I can still taste her lips that were so smooth, so delicate, so tempting. Every bit of detail I can possibly perceive registered in my brain. Maybe, this is one advantage of having the eye of an artist! You sense completely the great picture in small, minute details without unrecognizing anything! I can say no other masterpiece can equal their worth and grandeur with this girl's face.

After our passionate kiss, she somehow felt awkward and distanced herself from me. She sat on the floor and continued crying. She was crying out emotions I did not know then. Unmindful because she was crying, Helen did not notice that I was starting to sketch her face. Together with my report materials were my sketchpad and my worn-out pencils that I never threw. Her head was slightly concealed by her hand. It gave a hard time to sketch. Add to that my shortened pencils that seemed to give in already to excessive use.

Her being the exact opposites during school time and that night may be absurd but that was how she really was. Just like in the famous fable, she was an ugly duckling that turned out to be a majestic swan. But that same night, all my illusions, fantasies, and the comparisons I made crumbled into pieces because of a much-unexpected revelation I heard. She was not a duckling transformed into a swan. She was actually the other way around.

While she was crying, she emptied her burdened heart of all the emotions she was keeping and I, in turn, became the recipient of all those emotions. I learned many new things from her. Helen was the youngest child of her parents among the three siblings. Unfortunately, her parents died due to an unknown cause, and the gargantuan task of providing the basic necessities for them was left to his older brother, th eldest among them. During the first month, everything went well because they still had their saved money that will make them last for a couple of months. However, her brother entered as a worker in a canning factory and tried to assure their future. Everything seemed to be fine until her brother disappeared for a long time. According to her, she looked desperately around the place and inquired for her brother at the factory where he used to work. To her dismay, the company informed her that her brother was part of the group they sent to work under the same company but in a factory built in the US. Helen suffered a lot from this tragic event. His other brother was a retarded fellow that made Helen's life harder and miserable. She worked in a nearby cafeteria all day and all night long just to earn even a meager amount for their food and her brother's medication. But her wage was insufficient for both of them. They don't have any relatives and they were forced to sleep in slums. Because her brother's medications was too costly, she wasn't able to maintain his medicines. Her brother died three months after. Such a miserable condition!

Immense strength emanated from her and drove her to work for herself and survive the cruel world alone! Left alone and unprotected, and of a very young age, she resorted to prostitution. She was too beautiful so many patrons get her and pay her a huge deal for a short service for a single night. She earned comparatively larger amount of money because of her freshness and youth in her that was already missing with the other prostitutes. The money she earned was what she used for her education and expenses. With all these stories, I deeply admired her strength instead of cursing her or mocking her! I have known no one who can be that strong.

"Jack, you know, I still do it even here in school. It may be a shameful thing but I cannot do anything! Some of the seniors love my beauty and I use that opportunity to earn more money! I hook up with them just like what you saw a while ago!" Helen explained.

"But don't they notice you? How about the way you look?" I asked.

"Oh Jack, how would anyone notice a nerdy person, a girl with uncombed hair, and a person who does weird things? That's what I did. I used that kind of tactic! I try my very best to appear different from anyone else to avoid being recognized. Imagine how hard my life is?"

"I'm sorry!" Just at the same time, I finished sketching her. I approached her, caressed her hair, and embraced her so tight. I was touched by her story. I've never known anyone as strong as her. "Look at my sketchpad. I drew your face while you were crying. It's such a wonderful face that goes unnoticed by the people around you! Those horny guys don't deserve your beautiful face. Your friends do!"

"But I've got no friends except for the girls in the prostitution house I entered. You are my only friend in school, well starting tonight!"

"Then I do! Honestly, I really fell guilty whenever you are being bullied. I hope you can smile now that you already have a friend."

"Yeah, I will! Please don't tell them what you saw tonight!"

"I assure you. No one will know this! But before I forget, I'm gonna give you this sketch so you will always remember that you have a friend. If you want, I can draw you more!"

"Thanks!"

Such a wonderful night indeed for Jack Dawson had happened. Not only because I found someone to help me in my Chemistry report but also I found a new friend! Such great impact she has on me with or without her glasses on. Sketching her that night was very enjoyable and continued to amaze me. Now, every time I look at her, she seems to be the most beautiful girl for me even at school where she had her glasses back on!

Staying in my room together with my pencils and sketchpad, I spent most of my time drawing lovely pictures of her. I drew both her swan-like image and her duckling features. As I sketch pictures, I noticed I improved a lot! I wondered! Was it because I have a beautiful girl as my object or I am just in love?


End file.
